Ruthless Games
by MeredithGreyisgreyt
Summary: Derek Shepherd found himself in the middle of a messy divorce. Will it change his life forever or will he come out of it unscathed? AU
1. State of grace

**A/N: New story! Hope you guys like this one as much as you liked 'The Mistake'. By the way the Derek in this story is not exactly McDreamy.**

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Mark Sloan was tired. Rightly so. After a 48-hour shift and two back-to-back long surgeries anyone would be tired. So when Mark reached his apartment at 3 am, he was more than ready to collapse on his bed and sleep.

Mark stripped off his clothes and grabbed a pair of dry cleaned pajamas. He quickly got into them and headed to his bedroom. He had just gotten into his fluffy and inviting bed when the doorbell rang. Groaning loudly, Mark decided to ignore it. He was way too sleepy to handle some neighbor. After a moment of complete and utter silence, the doorbell rang again. This time more insistently.

Cursing loudly, Mark made his way to the door. He was ready to give whoever the hell it was an unforgettable verbal bashing.

"Do you have any _idea_ what time it is? What the fuck do you-" Mark shouted as he opened the door to his four bedroom spacious apartment.

But the sight that met him made him stop in his tracks. A woman was standing at his door at 3 am. A woman he knew very well. And it so happened that the said woman was crying hysterically.

Her beautiful green eyes were red and puffy. Her usually immaculate hair was all over the place. Her usual high branded clothes were swapped for a pair of well-worn jeans and a simple black t-shirt.

Mark gathered her in his arms and started soothing her. "Shh…it's all right. I'm here. Come on stop crying and tell me what happened."

"He-he-he w-w-wants a-a a divorce!" the woman sobbed.

"But I thought _you_ were going to file for a divorce. You know after Rose."

"I-I was up-up-upset, s-s-so I uh slept with Thompson from Oncology. And he walked in on us."

"You did what?!"

"He wants to ruin me Mark. He has an affair for one fucking year and he still wants to ruin me!"

"What did he say?"

"He told me to get the fuck out. And then he said that he was going to make me rue the day I decided to mess with Derek Shepherd. He said he is going to fight for everything. He wants to have everything. Mark he won't rest till he ruins me. Oh God what am I going to do Mark?"

"You need the best damn lawyer in New York."

"He has Alex Karev! Alex Karev is the best lawyer in New York!"

"I know someone better than him. I just hope she comes out here."

"Where is she from?"

"Seattle. But she is the best lawyer in all of U.S."

Mark pulls out his cell phone and dials a very familiar number.

"Hey I need your help ASAP. Get your pretty little ass out to New York. It is very urgent."


	2. How to save a life

**How to save a life**

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend,_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness_

_And I would've stayed up with you all night,_

_Had I known how to save a life._

Derek Shepherd was deep in thought as he gazed out of his office window. His practice was situated on the twenty-first floor of a huge building in the most expensive neighborhood of Manhattan. His personal office boosted a panoramic view of the Central Park with the famous Big Apple skyscrapers in the background.

When Addison, Mark and he finished their residency, they had decided to open a private practice. Their old Chief of Surgery was more than happy to sign a tie-up agreement with them. The three of them were, after all, the rising stars and up-and-coming leaders in their respective fields.

Derek thought about all that had happened in the past year. He was never the kind of guy who would cheat on his wife. But then again he was never one for the married forever kind of thing. Just the news that he had finally proposed came as a shocker to his family and to about anyone who knew him at all.

His mother always insisted that as a boy Derek was different. She always said that he wanted a loving wife, a huge family and the perfect house with a perfect dog. And maybe he did. Maybe he did want all of those things as a seven-years-old boy who just started believing that girls do not have cooties. But his father's death had changed him. Derek had always looked up to his father. Seeing those people shooting his hero in front of his eyes had severely affected him. Along with his father, the happy-go-lucky seven-years-old boy had died. In an instant his world had come crashing down.

Derek's eyes fell on the framed photographs on his desk. One was of his entire family, complete with the four sisters, four brothers-in-law, nine nieces, five nephews, his mother and Mark. The second one was of six-years-old Derek with his father holding a huge fish in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. He looked genuinely happy and carefree in that photo. Derek's father, Michael, was looking proudly at his only son and was sporting the same happy and carefree smile. The third photo was of his college graduation. His eldest sister Kathleen had taken that one. Derek and Mark were looking happy as they stood there posing with their diplomas and graduation hats.

When his eyes fell on the fourth and the last photo, Derek felt the anger, guilt and disgust boil in his veins. The fourth photo was of him and Addison, on their first day of internship. His mother had insisted on taking that one, even though they were running late. The photo Derek and the photo Addison were smiling widely at the camera. Even ten years later Derek could tell that his smile was immensely fake.

He thought about his marriage. Derek never really wanted to settle down. He and Mark were more of the love them leave them type ever since their sophomore year of high school. He met Addison in his first year of med school. She was every bit a goddess. Her figure thin but curvy at all the right places, her red hair gorgeous. She was truly beauty with brains. It had all started out as a bet with Mark but quickly accelerated into something more. She was the only woman, other than his sisters or his mother that he loved. And at that time, it seemed enough. He never really was in love with her, but his mother was insisting on him settling down. Looking back, Derek realized that he only ever married Addison because his mother wanted him to settle down, the sex was good and above all, he cared for her. So maybe it was not true love, or anywhere near the kind of love that results into marriage. But for Derek it was enough. Because he knew that he would never completely fall _i__n love_ with any woman.

They had a seemingly good marriage for eleven years. But after year six, Derek realized that he just considered Addison as his friend. Best female friend, but still a friend. Four years later, he met Rose. She was a new scrub nurse at the New York Presbyterian. Since their first surgery together, Derek knew that she was interested in him. Every female in that hospital was. After a particularly huge fight with Addison that resulted in him getting drunk, Derek went to his hospital office to crash for the night. He wasn't in the mood to go back to that expensive penthouse which was supposed to be his home. Nor was he interested in going to his private office and confront Mark.

So Derek decided that the hospital was his best bet. He still can't remember what exactly happened that night. All he can remember was waking up naked on the huge bed in an on-call room with a very naked Rose sleeping beside him. That was the beginning of his sordid affair with his scrub nurse. He wasn't in love with Rose. Hell, he didn't even love her. It was plain sex for him. He had made that abundantly clear before their second rendezvous.

For one whole year Addison was clueless about his affair. Or even if she did know, she turned a blind eye towards it. She just couldn't ignore it anymore. Everything was going okay since then. They were going to file for divorce and amicably divide their assets. But then he found her with that guy from Oncology in his bedroom, on his bed that had his favorite sheets. And that was the last straw. Every time he and Rose met, he made sure never to go to their house. But there she was, cheating on him in his bloody penthouse. Derek's anger knew no bounds. He was fuming with rage by the time Thompson got out of his apartment. Addison had begged him to stop when he threw her out. But Derek wouldn't have any of it. You just don't mess with Derek Shepherd. He had vowed to ruin her life.

And he was going to do just that.


End file.
